Cliff Burton Would Have Been Very Against Softer Metallica 2016 In Review

01/05/2017.

(Classic Rock) Cliff Burton Would Have Been Very Against Softer Metallica was a top 16 story of November 2016: Metallica frontman James Hetfield believes late bassist Cliff Burton would have been resistant to the path the band eventually followed, especially on their Load and Re-Load albums.

Burton died in 1986 as Metallica were on the road in support of that year's classic album Master Of Puppets. And the follow-up ...And Justice for All, released two years later, is notorious for how then bassist Jason Newsted's bass is so low in the mix.

Hetfield is confident Burton wouldn't have allowed that to happen and he also thinks Burton would have had something to say about later albums Load and Re-Load, which he describes as "the U2 version of Metallica."

In an exclusive interview with Metal Hammer, Hetfield says: "I certainly would have thought there would have been some resistance, for sure. When I go back and I listen to ...And Justice For All, it couldn't have stayed on that path.

"We needed to bring in another set of trusted ears. I think Cliff would have probably interjected some different stuff, getting his bass heard and some more musically challenging things, probably.

"I would certainly think that Load and Re-Load, I would have had an ally that was very against it all - the reinvention or the U2 version of Metallica." Read more here.